Boeing Risks Labor Unrest With Engineers Contract Talks

A strike would crimp Boeing Co.’s efforts to boost output 60 percent over four years, work through delays on the 787 Dreamliner and develop new
variants such as the 737 Max. Photographer: Stuart Isett/Bloomberg

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. tried to head off labor
unrest during a record production increase by reaching a
landmark contract with the machinists who build its jets. Now
the planemaker faces a similar risk with its engineers.

Bargaining has been contentious before the current accord’s
Oct. 6 expiration, according to the union, which alleged in a
federal labor complaint last week that Boeing supervisors had
intimidated members. Boeing denied that and said union leaders
“are attempting to create a crisis where none exists.”

Keeping the engineers on the job is vital for Boeing, since
they work alongside machinists and are required to sign off on
assembly throughout a jet’s production. A strike would crimp
Boeing’s efforts to boost output 60 percent over four years,
work through delays on the 787 Dreamliner and develop new
variants such as the 737 Max.

“They don’t need a distraction, and they don’t need any
sign that they’re not a reliable and predictable supplier,”
said Gary Chaison, an industrial relations professor at Clark
University in Worcester, Massachusetts. “The engineers are in a
position of having considerable leverage, and negotiations are
going to be tough.”

Talks between Chicago-based Boeing and the Society of
Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, known by the
acronym Speea, are being held every Thursday near Seattle, the
company’s commercial headquarters. Today’s discussions will
center on health care, said Ray Goforth, Speea’s executive
director.

Machinists Deal

The union represents 23,000 engineers and technical
workers, compared with 31,000 machinists. That group’s surprise
deal with Boeing, announced in December, was reached nine months
before the expiration of an existing contract, erasing the
prospect of a walkout by workers who had struck four times since
1989.

“Given the weak economy and the desire to avoid production
disruptions, we think an agreement will be reached,” Stephen
Levenson, a New York-based analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, wrote
in a note to clients this week. “But investors can expect a
fair amount of noise between now and the expiration.”

Even a threat of labor trouble may alarm airlines that have
had to suspend new routes when planes were held up by past
walkouts.

A two-month strike by machinists in 2008 that delayed
dozens of deliveries, including a 777 for V Australia, had an
“utterly ghastly” impact, Virgin Group Ltd.’s Richard Branson
said later as he picked up the jet. He said he would reconsider
future orders if Boeing didn’t resolve its labor issues.

Avoiding Disruptions

Investors took note. Boeing stock dropped in the two weeks
after Branson’s comments to trade at a 15 percent discount to
Airbus SAS parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. on a
price-to-earnings basis. That’s about the same premium EADS now
commands, Bloomberg data show.

Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, says it has never had a
strike that stopped production.

Both the engineers and the machinists have made much of
Boeing’s booming business, citing the $10.6 billion in profits
since their last contracts. The Chicago-based manufacturer has a
backlog of 4,000 airliners valued at $302 billion as air travel
continues to expand and oil prices rise, bolstering demand for
more fuel-efficient jets.

Boeing has raised its dividend 10 percent since 2008, when
the unions’ last contracts ran out, and Chief Executive Officer
Jim McNerney’s total compensation including pension has
increased 21 percent to $22.96 million.

‘Clear Challenge’

“They reward themselves, they answer to Wall Street,
they’re afraid of the machinists, but they don’t think the
engineers or techs will stand up for themselves,” said Ray
Goforth, Speea’s executive director. “That’s a clear challenge
to the workforce.”

The planemaker described itself in an e-mailed statement as
“absolutely committed” to rewarding its engineers for their
contributions. The company said executives weren’t available to
talk about negotiations.

Speea’s 15,000 engineers account for about 9 percent of
Boeing’s 175,000 employees worldwide and make an average of
$110,000 a year. The 8,000 technical workers covered by the same
contract earn an average $79,000.

That compares with an average $56,000 a year for
machinists, who have walked out a total of seven times since
1935.

Pension Benefit

Speea has only gone on strike at Boeing twice since it was
founded in 1946: for one day in 1993 and 40 days in 2000.

A major disagreement in Boeing’s current talks with
engineers is over pensions. Boeing recently moved non-union
employees and smaller unions to a 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan to mitigate fluctuating interest rates’ impact
on pension obligations.

The company is making a $1.5 billion voluntary cash payment
this year to its $67.7 billion pension, which has a $16.6
billion shortfall.

Engineers won’t accept Boeing’s plan to switch new hires
over to a defined-contribution plan because it would cut their
benefits by 40 percent, Goforth said. The planemaker also wants
to cut the rate of growth for current engineers’ pensions in
half, he said.

‘Posturing’

Boeing says it’s trying to keep engineers competitive for
future work and that its total compensation package will
continue to be market-leading. While proposals are being made
more piece-meal this year, Boeing said a final package still
should be ready next month.

“Both sides are posturing a bit,” Levenson said.

A group of Speea members suspended their participation in a
labor-management committee two weeks ago, citing tension over
negotiations. The union also filed a complaint with the National
Labor Relations Board last week, claiming Boeing supervisors
took pro-union materials out of workers’ cubicles and warned
them not to bad-mouth the company in public.

Boeing said yesterday it has no such policy or interest in
conveying that type of message to employees.

The biggest aerospace company has posted earnings and
developed sought-after products from the Dreamliner to the 737
Max that leave it negotiating from a different vantage point
than U.S. management teams who have gained greater power over
unions because of their companies’ deep financial trouble.

“Boeing’s problem is that they’re profitable,” Chaison
said. “They don’t have much of a case of claiming poverty, and
so as a result much is expected of them by their unions.”